Tehran, Aug 16 – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will embark on a two-day tour to Armenia and Belarus starting Monday evening, focusing on strengthening bilateral ties and signing cooperation agreements, particularly in trade. The visit, initially scheduled for late June, was postponed and is now confirmed, according to Mehdi Sanaei, political advisor to the President.
Pezeshkian’s trip comes shortly after Armenia and Azerbaijan, long at odds over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, signed a peace agreement in Washington on August 8. A key element of the accord is the creation of a transit corridor across southern Armenia, with exclusive development rights granted to the United States, Xinhua reported.
Iran has consistently voiced opposition to foreign powers’ involvement in the Caucasus and warned against geopolitical shifts or alterations to historical borders. Ahead of the President’s visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi held separate meetings in Tehran with Russian envoy Igor Khovaev and Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan to discuss regional developments.
Araghchi reiterated Iran’s position of supporting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan through regional initiatives without foreign interference. He stressed that unblocking transit routes must respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity while serving the collective interests of regional states.
In talks with Khovaev, the Iranian minister emphasized the need for regional mechanisms, cooperation, and convergence to ensure stability, noting Tehran and Moscow share common views on key regional and international issues. Khovaev presented Russia’s diplomatic efforts to maintain peace in the Caucasus and called for continued close coordination with Iran.
During his meeting with Kostanyan, Araghchi underlined that peace agreements and transit projects should not lead to geopolitical changes or disrupt existing connections between other states. He insisted that all regional countries must benefit equally from the peace process.
